Monday, January 16, 2012

For those who are still searching for a place to enjoy the Chinese New Year Banquet with your family, friends and colleagues, my Chinese New Year Yee Sang marathon led me to Concorde Hotel Shah Alam at Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant!

Another first for me, I never knew there was a Concorde Hotel in Shah Alam till I was informed. Located the Blue Mosque in the city center, Concorde Hotel Shah Alam is the only hotel in Shah Alam with three Halal certificates in three out of five restaurants. Xin Cuisine is pork free and serves nouvelle Cantonese cuisine and dim sum on a daily basis.

Upon arrival at Xin Cuisine, I was immediately drawn to a beautiful‘GuZheng’ located right up front of the entrance. I wish I could play this gorgeous instrument… J

I love how the Yee Sang is displayed in their brochures… such creativity!

Xin Cuisine, a 260 seat capacity restaurant, has a mish-mash décor of traditional and contemporary with an exclusive seven private dining rooms that are quite large to hold private functions.

Xin Cuisine is helmed by Chef Thong Pun Foo, who has been with the restaurant for a good 14 years. For this Chinese New Year menu, Chef Thong is proud to presents a selection of delicious Yee Sang, from the ever-popular Salmon Yee Sang, Scallop Yee Sang, Pear & Salmon Yee Sang, Pacific Clam Yee Sang to the extravagant Abalone Yee Sang. If you want something special, you may opt for the Fish Maw Yee Sang or the resilient Disney Yee Sang.

We savored the most favorite one of Salmon Yee Sang! One can never go wrong with this as I always enjoy the omega rich sliced salmon in any way. Various ingredients like shredded white radish, young ginger, yam chips, pomelo, preserved papaya gherkins, red and white ginger, plum sauce, ground peanut, sesame seeds and lots more are all added into this prosperity dish as well.

Another one for the memories!

Another height record set for tossing the Yee Sang!

Fairly thick slices of delectable salmon are well appreciated in the Yee Sang while the sweet and sour plum sauce is decent. These once-a-year delicacies are available in small and large portions. Served during lunch and dinner, the Yee Sang dishes are priced from RM68.00++ onwards.

The next dish of Braised Sea Cucumber, Fresh Scallop and Crab Meat Soup is quite fabulous!

No shark’s fin is present but I felt that it didn’t need it anyway as they don’t lend much taste to the soup. The lavish soup is jazzed up with small chunks of sea cucumber, fresh scallop and fresh crab meat, making the overall soup filled with loads of textures. Fresh scallops are a lovely rendition to the soup as it added a gentle sweet flavor. I certainly don’t mind indulging in this soup!!

Crispy Roasted Chicken with Nam Yu Sauce may sound normal but the skin is superb! Glistening with a gorgeous amber sheen, the skin is almost crackling and super crisp. The poultry had a fairly strong aroma of fermented bean curd while the meat was tender and smooth. A time-honored dish executed perfectly!

Steamed White Patin Thai Style got mixed reviews about the fish. The spicy flavors of the Thai sauce were lovely but some of us prefer other fish while others were fine with Patin. If you are not a Patin fish fan, do ask the captain for other options. I need a bowl of white rice for the lovely sauce please!

Here comes the ‘Har’ in the course… Deep-Fried Prawns with Sweet Corn and Anchovies. Both flavors of sweet corn and savory anchovies seem to meld very well surprisingly. The prawns are fairly large and have a lovely brown caramel sauce coated while the sweet corn and anchovies accentuated the taste harmoniously. Yum… don’t mind having more of these!

Braised Dried Oyster with ‘San Gan’, Black Mushrooms and Broccoli was decent in my opinion. The medley of ingredients was well braised and seasoned while the broccoli still retained a nice firm texture. I personally favored the ‘San Gan’ which is fried gluten.

What’s special about Special Fried Rice with Vegetables? The rice was filled with a glorious ‘Wok Hei’ and had loads of cubed vegetables that provided a lovely crunch while the fried shallots lift up the aroma further. Very nicely done if I may say so as it takes quite a skill to actually dish out great a fried rice.

Dessert time! Here come two desserts to complete our lovely meal… J

Two Varieties of Dim Sum featured a Waterchestnut Cake and a Nian Gao Spring Roll. The chilled waterchestnut cake studded with wolfberries had a ‘kuih’ texture with a nice aroma of sweet waterchestnut which I enjoyed. My other friends preferred the Nian Gao spring roll as it was crispy and have a gooey filling of Chinese new year cake.

Warm Soya Bean and Glutinous Dumpling was a comfort ending to our meal!

The dishes here are truly traditional and most of them are executed very well in flavors and quality. Portions are good and the whole restaurant has a peaceful and serene ambience to be enjoyed with family and friends. Our feast is the Longevity set priced at RM688++ per table of 10 persons. Price wise considered fair as Concorde Hotel Shah Alam is an award-winning hotel in Shah Alam!

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‘Auspicious’ Set

Priced at RM588.00++ per set with table of 10 pax

Salmon Yee Sang

Braised Wolfberry Fish Maw Soup

Crispy Roasted Chicken

Steamed Dory Fish with Fresh Enoki Mushrooms and Black Mushrooms

Braised Dried Oyster with Black Mushrooms & Broccoli

Wok-fried Crispy Prawn with Black Pepper & Garlic

Prawn Fried Rice

Two varieties of Dim Sum and dessert

Longevity’ Set

Priced at RM688.00++ per set with table of 10 pax

Salmon Yee Sang

Braised Sea Cucumber, Fresh Scallops and Crab Meat Soup

Crispy Roasted Chicken with Nam Yu Sauce

Steamed Patin Thai Style

Braised Dried Oyster with San Gan, Black Mushrooms & Broccoli

Deep-fried Prawn served with Sweet Corn & Anchovies

Special Fried Rice with Vegetables

Two varieties of Dim Sum and dessert

The Longevity set is priced at RM688.00++ per table of 10 persons.

‘Prosperity’ Set

Priced at RM988.00++ per set with table of 10 pax

Smoked Salmon Yee Sang

Braised Abalone, Dried Scallop & Crab Meat Soup

Crispy Roasted Chicken with Dong Gui Herb

Steamed Cod with Soya Sauce served with Deep-fried Wanton

Braised Fish Maw, Braised Mushroom & Dried Oyster with Broccoli

Deep-fried Oat coated Prawn Meat & Squid

Seafood Fried Rice with Garlic

Two varieties of Dim Sum and dessert

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Besides the Chinese New Year Set Menu, we savored a few morsels of dim sums which were quite enjoyable. There is a Dim Sum Buffet Brunch available every Saturday from 1st Jan to 31st Jan right now.

For more information or reservations, please call +603 5512 2200 or visit our website at shahalam.concordehotelsresorts.com.